Change
by Zenaia Aubrey Danica Rene
Summary: After the events of Enter the Florpus, how is Zim supposed to cope with everything around him changing so drastically? How are you supposed to keep moving forward after you're forced to accept that your life was a lie? Possibly some romance much, much later in the story.
1. Change

Change is the only constant in this world, even if it's not easy to accept.

* * *

**Chapter: one**

Questions

* * *

It had been about a month since they had almost been annihilated, torn apart by colliding realities.

Zim's latest plan, the last hope he had of proving his worth to the tallest, had fallen apart right before his eyes.

Dib hadn't seen the irken in weeks, but noticed his base was being repaired.

Soon summer vacation was over and skool was starting.

"Good morning, class." Greeted Ms. Bitters in a mocking tone. "Seeing as how Mr. Mason 'unfortunately' ended up getting trampled in the Peace Day mass hysteria event, the board has so graciously given me yet another class to teach everyday… So I will be your seventh grade teacher…"

"Peace Day mass hysteria event…" Dib let out a barely audible groan.

He couldn't believe people actually bought that load.

His father had gotten on TV and had explained that someone had knocked him out and tampered with the Membracelets, causing them to give off strong electromagnetic waves, inducing mass hallucinations.

Dib sat quietly at his desk, thinking about all that had happened in the span of those terrifying few days, when an all too familiar green figure walked through the door.

"you're late, Zim. Sit down!" barked Ms. Bitters.

"So sorry my ancient and oh so frightening teacher, it will not happen again." Said Zim, with a sickeningly sweet and completely fake smile.

"I remember a time when children were afraid to be late, especially on the first day of skool. They would have to go sit in 'the Chamber' and—"

Dib wasn't listening, instead glaring daggers at Zim.

Why was he here?

He shouldn't have a reason to come to skool anymore…

It didn't make sense...

"—And they would have fire ants put in their eyes—"

Something was wrong, very wrong. He had to be up to something…

"—Then they would have to stay after skool, cleaning all the filthy bathrooms that had been left to fester for two months, with a toothbrush…"

Zim just sat back and put his feet up on his desk, like nothing had happened.

\--

Dib walked up to Zim at lunch.

The irken was trying to choke down a french fry, one of the few human foods that didn't make him violently Ill.

"What's your deal, Zim? Why are you here?" Asked the aspiring paranormal investigator.

"Why are any of us here, human?" Zim asked mockingly.

"You know what I mean. There's no reason for you to come to skool. No reason for you to even stay on Earth after what happened."

Dib narrowed his eyes at him.

"Oh, I have a reason, Dib! A very good one!"

"And just what would that be?"

"I now know the perfect way to get recognized for the truly incredible Irken elite that I am!" Zim exclaimed, hopping up on the table and pointing to the sky dramatically.

He then noticed the children staring at him.

"I-is what the guy on TV said… um… Zim is a normal human! Yes, normal…"

The kids just ignored him and went back to chatting and eating.

Dib sighed in irritated confusion.

"You told me yourself, even showed me proof, that your leaders lied to you. That they aren't coming. You teleported the entire planet to them and they didn't even bother to contact you."

Zim took in a breath.

"Foolish Earth-monkey, Zim has indeed contacted his Tallest and all is fine" He informed Dib.

A look of shock crossed his face before he grabbed Zim by his shirt and pulled him up, glaring directly into his eyes.

There was no way he would let the little green alien get the chance to do something worse than he already had.

"What did they say?!" Dib snapped dangerously.

Zim gave an indignant squeaked as he was snatched from his seat. He then cleared his throat to cover it up.

"Stupid Dib-stink, why would I tell you?!"

"All depends… How much do you like having your antennae attached to your head?" The boy growled.

Zim roughly pushed him away.

"Your threats mean nothing to Zim! But, because you are so pathetic, I will tell you that they are leaving all the details up to me."

He said, trying to hide his concern by smoothing out the wrinkles in his uniform.

Dib tilted his head in disbelief.

Things were becoming clear to him.

"Why would they still leave anything up to you?"

Zim shot him a nasty look.

"Because Zim is the best, most incredible invader in the history of Irk." He said simply.

"And things will be a bit harder to manage from their current location… Inside the… Florpus…" He reluctantly added.

"Wait… You don't mean that the Tallest, the leaders of Irk, actually flew into that thing? Man… And I thought you were stupid!"

If looks could kill, Zim would have splattered Dibs head all over the cafeteria.

"How did you contact them? How did they even survive?! They must be dead by NOW."

Deathly anger flashed across Zim's face.

"My Tallest are NOT dead! T-they have their reasons f-for going in there! They must know s-something we don't!"

Zim stammered defensively.

It was becoming painfully obvious that Zim was in complete denial, still rejecting the idea that his leaders had abandoned him and worse, they were gone.

He couldn't accept that he was the reason for the hell they had been trapped in.

Zim squeezed his eyes shut, fists shaking at his sides.

"I'll show you, stupid human! I'll show you all!" he screamed before dashing out of the building.

Dib just stood there in shocked silence, actually feeling a bit sorry for the pitiful creature.

* * *

Haven't written a story in a while...

I decided it was time for a brand new start.

Hope you find some enjoyment in reading the drabbles of a crazy person. :)


	2. Aftershock

Aftershock

* * *

The truth finally comes out.

* * *

Dib couldn't sleep at all that night, thinking about what had happened.

He had tried to spy on Zim, but there seemed to be no movement inside the base.

Not even the tiny moose or hyperactive robot, which was a concern.

He knew Gir couldn't go too long without causing some sort of major chaos.

Still, there was nothing… Even late into the night…

Even though he was mostly worried about what the alien might do, a part of him was calling Zim an idiot for still forcing himself to believe all the lies he had been told most of his life.

He was an outcast, despised, tossed out like a piece of garbage.

Dib had even talked with the Tallest before and, from what he could see, they were terrible leaders.

Far too childish and self-absorbed to command anybody.

But Zim was nothing if not blindly loyal…

Why couldn't he admit that they wanted nothing to do with him, so he could finally move on and actually have a life?

Dib couldn't believe he was feeling sorry for his worst enemy.

The one who had tried to kill him on many, many occasions.

He had completely destroyed what little (Admittedly selfish) trust he had in him.

Zim had almost annihilated the Earth.

Not only in this dimension, but all of them.

Forcing them together so they would rip each other apart.

How could he have any pity for the little green nuisance?

He was getting sick of this…

He rolled over and pulled the blanket over his head, forcing all thoughts having to do with the extra terrestrial menace out of his mind.

\--

The next day, Dib sat patiently waiting for Zim to show.

He had barely gotten any sleep and was ready to give him a piece of his mind.

But he never showed…

Dib camped out in the tree across from his base again, and again, all was silent.

"I'm not falling for this again, you gross lizard thing." He said as he settled in.

After a couple of hours, he found himself nodding off.

He pinched his arm hard to wake up a bit.

"Damn… Can't fall asleep now. Gotta stay up. Gotta keep watch." He told himself.

He waited, and watched, and waited…

And the next thing he knew, he was waking up.

"Huh…? What?"

He looked at his watch and almost fell out of the tree.

He had been asleep for ten hours.

He groggily climbed down the tree, falling to the dirt about half way down.

"I'll get you, Zim. I'll figure out your scheme and I'll get you." He said as he stared menacingly at the odd little 'house'.

Now he just had to get home and explain to his dad why he was coming home at four in the morning…

\--

The next week was the same.

He would sit and wait, both in skool and outside Zim's house.

He even dared to ask Ms. Bitters if she had heard anything.

She growled something about Zim being home due to complications with his 'skin condition' and also how she wished the world would implode.

One day, as he was sitting up in the tree, something dropped in front of him.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Dib shrieked at the loud noise and promptly fell backwards out of the tree, landing with a solid thud as he hit the grass.

Gir looked down at the startled boy from up in the tree.

"That looked like fuuun!" Shouted the robot, jumping down and landing right on Dib's gut.

After letting out an 'oof' sound upon impact, all he could do was groan.

Gir was heavier than his tiny body let on.

He giggled manically and swiftly climbed back up to do it again.

This time Dib was able to roll out of the way, leaving the robot to faceplant in the dirt.

Not that it fazed him at all, he just climbed back up for more.

All the while, Zim sat just above the tree in his Voot cruiser, laughing so hard his squeedlyspooch hurt.

"W-what in the seven moons of Schlorrn were you doing?" asked the shrill, alien voice, still laughing, from the small ship.

Dib got up and popped his back.

"I was trying to find out what you were planning, what else?" he replied with a glare.

"Don't tell me you've been sitting out here all week!" He was still giggling. "I've been working on my new, perfect plan all the way on that puny pebble you humans call Pluto."

"So, you're telling me that I've been sitting here, in this stupid tree, staring at an empty house…?!" Dib snapped in disbelief.

"Yeah, I guess so… Ahahaha!" Zim burst out again.

Dib's face was burning, weather it was from anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell.

"I told you I had something amazing in mind, and I knew you wouldn't think to follow me all the way out there." He grinned darkly. "I will soon prove just how powerful the almighty Zim is, to both you and my Tallest! They will never have reason to doubt me again!"

Dib ran a hand over his face in frustration.

He felt as if he would make more progress talking to a brick wall.

"Zim, listen to me. The Tallest aren't coming back. After what happened, I did my research. Nothing has ever gone into a Florpus and escaped. We only got away coz we were still on the edge."

Zim hopped out of his ship and it automatically headed for the base.

"You lie, human stink-thing! You LIE!"

He screamed, quickly walking up to Dib and pointing a gloved finger right in his face.

The boy swatted the hand away roughly.

"You are such an idiot, Zim!"

He shouted. "Even if they did somehow manage to miraculously survive and escape, what makes you think they would want anything to do with you?! They abandoned you! They would have been happy to leave you here to rot, still thinking you had a mission!"

At that, the alien attacked, knocking Dib to the ground.

He tried to slash the stupid child with his short but sharp claws, but his gloves prevented it.

He lashed out at him in every way he could think of in his state.

Dib, bruised and glasses cracked, fought back, using his legs to try to keep Zim away from his face.

He managed to kick Zim off of him and into the tree.

He then quickly grabbed Zim's wrists, pinning them against the trunk and put his weight on his legs to keep him still.

Zim still snapped at Dib's face with his frighteningly sharp teeth, continuing to curse at him.

Dib held him down, letting him tire himself out.

When the irken was having trouble catching his breath and silently seething, glaring at Dib with all of the rage and hate he could still muster, Dib spoke.

In a still angry but even tone, he told him the truth, making sure he was listening.

"They're gone, Zim. Even IF they're still alive, they're not coming back. They don't want anything to do with you. You're a failure, an outcast, Zim. The sooner you can admit that they sent you here with no hope to return, the sooner you can move on and actually have a life."

Ruby eyes narrowed, tears forming but they were not allowed to fall.

Sharp, pink teeth gnashed tightly together.

His whole body trembled with extreme rage… And also… Fear.

"What kind of life can one have when they have been bred and trained their entire life for one thing, and then it's ripped away?! I am an irken soldier!" Zim snapped.

Dib stared at him, surprise replacing some of the anger on his face.

"There is no life to live if Zim can't have a mission. That was the whole point…"

It took a minute, but Dib started to realize what he meant.

The words feeling like a weight slowly crushing the breath out of him as he replayed them in his head.

"When you teleported the planet…" Dib said, barely above a whisper. "You didn't plan for them to pick you up… You wanted to die completing your mission…"

Zim was now looking off to the side, not meeting his eyes.

He slowly got up, releasing the others hands.

"Why, Zim?"

The irken stood, his legs shaking a bit.

"You can't change what you were born to be, Dib…" Zim said in a hoarse whisper. "I will never stop trying to destroy this filthy mud ball!"

With that, he walked into his base.

Dib sat under the tree, still trying to proses what had just happened.

He ran his fingers through his hair and tilted his face toward the sky, before he heard something that sent terror through his body.

"Caaaaaaanoooooon baaaaaall!"

* * *

Some dark stuff in this one...


	3. Conflicted

* * *

Have faith or just give up?

* * *

Over the next few days things just seemed off.

Dib could tell that Zim hadn't given up yet, but he wasn't acting quite right.

He was quiet, not bragging about whatever progress he had made in his latest scheme.

Even when Dib confronted him, he would give a small, snarky reply, then just ignore the boy.

Sometimes even climbing into the vents.

He could see the wheels turning in the aliens head as he sat alone at lunch.

Dib was hoping he was finally coming to terms with what had happened.

No one, not even Zim deserved to live like that.

Zim groaned in frustration, rubbing his eyes.

His contacts were bothering him more than usual today.

No matter how many times he had tried to reach the Tallest, how many messages he sent, there was never any answer.

The only reason he even went to skool for the last few days was to distract himself for a few hours.

Between trying to contact his leaders and working on something he had no doubt would get him back in their good graces, he felt like his brain was melting.

As annoying as he found humans, he needed these distractions.

He felt like he was getting weak.

Since when did irkens need breaks?

An irken elite like him should be able to work day and night without losing focus at all.

But his concentration had been slipping…

The thought of what he had done, the stress of worrying, all the 'what ifs'.

Not that he hadn't done similar things in the past.

But at least he knew that for a fact that Tallest Miyuki and Spork were actually dead.

Irkens didn't really mourn their dead, there wasn't much of a point to.

Irkens didn't form bonds, simple as that.

There wasn't a need to when you're all just expendable weapons.

They only had respect for those taller than themselves.

Zim was conflicted, he was torn between his belief in following his leaders at all costs and his instinct to leave the dead behind.

Not knowing was killing him.

"Computer, have you picked up any signals from the Massive or any of the armada yet?" Shouted Zim as he stepped through the door, tossing his wig and contacts to the ground.

"Still absolutely no trace of any irken, or any other signals coming from that location. Nothing, nada, zilch.." Replied the deep, artificial voice, tired of the whole situation.

Zim sighed, rubbing his antennae that were a bit sore from being stuffed under that cheap, itchy wig.

"I made a piiie!" Came a shrill cry from what could barely be called the 'kitchen'.

"What kind of pie?" Asked the little invader very cautiously, expecting something horrible and possibly dangerous.

Gir immediately came running at full speed at his master.

"Muuuuuud piiiiiiiiie!"

He then tripped and, before Zim could react, the 'pie' was launched into his face.

"Gir, you idiot!" He screamed as he wiped the mud from his eyes before he could open them.

"I love mud pie, especially the wiggly bits!" The robot said, picking a worm off Zim's face and slurping it down.

"Disgusting… You had better be glad I remembered the paste this morning!"

With that, he slung an armful of mud in Gir's face, which he seemed to enjoy.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up. Computer, keep scanning! Gir, go eat your filth outside!"

"Yes sir!" Said Gir with his eyes flashing red and quickly putting on his costume.

"Yes master…" The computer affirmed, but in a snippy, sarcastic tone.

Zim just ignored them, getting into his toilet and flushing himself down.

Dib watch it all from the hidden camera he had managed to get in Zim's base.

'Hidden' in the loosest sense of the word.

It was barely concealed in a fake pig head haphazardly stuck on the wall.

He had told Gir it was a gift and to hang it up for him.

He had gotten the robots help before and learned he had about a 50/50 chance of Gir just eating whatever he gave him.

He had lost some very expensive equipment that way…

He switched to another camera and saw Zim wiping the mud off his face with a towel dipped in some sort of blue liquid.

"Stupid Gir! Why does he insist on filling my life with gross earth-filth? If it's not mud, it's cheese, pudding, taco sauce, or… I don't even want to know what that sticky gray and black stuff was…"

"Nyah!" squeaked Mini Moose.

"Really? I didn't even know that existed… Never mind that! There is more work to be done!"

"Nyah!"

"Don't worry, the cold on Pluto should keep it dormant for at least another thousand years."

"Nyah!"

" That's only if it finds a heat source!"

"Nyah nyah!"

" There's no way it can reach that! That's why I put it on the other side!"

"Nyah!"

"You worry too much! Go watch your lady prison show!"

The tiny moose gave one final squeak and floated away.

"Watch that language!" Zim crossed his arms and gave a disapproving glare.

Dib scratched his head, it was beyond him how the alien could understand anything Mini Moose said.

He was now very concerned about whatever Zim was keeping on Pluto.

Hopefully, if something did go wrong, and knowing Zim it probably would, it was too far away to get to Earth.

He sat and watched Zim type for the next few hours.

With the angle of the camera, plus the fact that he knew very little of the irken language, he couldn't make out what he was planning.

Eventually, his father poked his head through the doorway and told him to go to bed.

He sighed and hit the record button.

He was going to figure out what was going on and nothing could get in his way.

That night he had nightmares about giant, man-eating beasts and horrible, flesh melting viruses.

Zim had to be stopped.

* * *

I'm having a lot of fun trying to get inside Zim's head.

How would an irken think and what makes Zim different?

Creativity is flowing


	4. ?

* * *

**A 'normal' day.**

* * *

Dib kicked a piece of scrap metal out of his way as he walked over to the door.

He had been trying to repair Tak's ship since that whole Peace Day nightmare, but with absolutely no luck.

He had fixed the body of the ship, but the computer was completely fried…

Earth technology was just barely advanced enough to make it capable of flight, but the computer components were just incompatible.

At this rate he would be better off taking what he had learned from it and building a new one from scratch.

Dib sighed in frustrated resignation, realizing just how much time he had wasted on the piece of junk, and closed the garage door.

He had to find a way to get all the way out to Pluto and stop whatever monstrosity Zim was hiding there.

His overactive imagination wouldn't let him sleep until he did…

\--

Zim made a triumphant noise as he removed the high-tech gloves and goggles that allowed him to control the robot drone he had left on the dwarf planet.

It was far too cold for him to spend any real amount of time there.

He hated the cold almost more than anything and Earth winters were bad enough…

He was glad he had thought to make improvements to the Voot's heating system well before he put this new and ingenious plan into action.

The invader had been working, mostly hunched over a control station, for nine hours straight .

His poor spine was begging him to stand and stretch, popping loudly as he did so.

His antennae picked up a strange, high pitched sound coming from the ground level of the base.

Realization and horror crossed his face as he recognized the sound.

A young human scream.

He dashed up to the 'living room' and his jaw fell open in shock.

"Hi, son!"

"Come have dinner with us!"

The robot 'father' was holding a child high against the wall, while the 'mother' was using her extendable arms to stuff waffles down the kid's throat.

Gir was running back and forth, delivering more waffles.

The little boy being held captive had tears and snot running down his face and his belly was swollen painfully.

"What do you think you're doing?! Stop this madness this instant!" Shouted the distressed irken as he shoved the robo-parents away.

The kid immediately bolted out the door as fast as his tiny legs could carry him, then puked in the yard.

Zim donned his disguise and ran after him, screaming about how normal they were to anyone he could see.

He soon stepped back inside, closing the door and sliding down it to sit on the floor.

Pulling his knees to his chest and covering his face with his hands, he began grumbling in his native language.

"Aw, what's wrong, son?" Asked the 'father'. "Do you miss your little friend already?"

"We still have plenty of waffles!" Exclaimed the 'mother' with a huge smile.

Zim just stared blankly at them, one eye twitching.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ALMOST DID?!" Zim exploded.

"I made baaaacon waffles!" Chimed Gir cheerfully as he skipped into the room.

It only took one look at the murderous expression on his master's face before he turned and skipped right back into the kitchen.

Even the usually oblivious Gir knew that look.

It took every ounce of control in his body for Zim not to shred the two happily grinning robots on the spot.

After he took a moment to swallow his rage, he stood and swiftly deactivate them before throwing them roughly into their closet.

"Computer! Why didn't you alert me there was a human in the base?!"

"You said not to interrupt you're brilliant work for any reason, then threatened to put me in an automated vacuum cleaner if I did."

All Zim could do was mumble irken swears as he double checked the door was locked and the gnomes were activated.

Gir just watched from his seat on the kitchen toilet, munching on his bacon waffles.

\--

Dib sat on his roof, looking up at the first stars of the night.

Ha had to figure out how to stop whatever horrors Zim had planned this time.

He twirled the pen in his fingers, the notebook forgotten at his side as he lay there, wracking his brain.

At that moment, he heard a strange, garbled screaming and babbling.

He sat up and watched a very bloated looking boy running panicked down the street, puking every so often.

He decided to head to his room early that night.

* * *

**Sorry for the lack of updates...**

**Been busy with holiday and family drama...**

**Things will hopefully ramp up soon.**


	5. Not a chapter, just an update :)

Hi guys! Not actually a chapter, sorry... But I just wanted to let you all know what I've been up to lately.

I have made Tumblr and DeviantArt accounts, where you can check out my art, if you're interested...

I would love some feedback, so feel free to come say hi! :)

zenaiaaubreydanicarene. tumblr. com

deviantart. com/zadrheart

Do not worry! I shall return to this story as soon as possible.


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